Inspiring wonderful places to grow up and grow old by fostering care communities and care economies for & by neighbors.
The conversation with my neighbor started nicely enough, but I said four little words—”tell me about it”—that made everything go sideways. My comment made her feel as if I was comparing our situations and she took offense at that. I, in turn, felt an upsurge of anger at her offense—I wasn’t comparing our situations as…Continue reading When you don’t feel seen by someone
The doors to leave Alexandria weren’t opening and I was like, “Look, God, if Atlanta isn’t where’s next, show me the right place. Clearly. Thank you.” Thinking about that now, I think about that joke of the guy who kept praying—feeling exasperated—to win the lottery, until God finally said, “Buy a ticket, already!” Only God…Continue reading I’m finally moving back to Atlanta
If it weren’t for my late father’s hospice nurse, I’m sure my mom would have fallen by now: he saw her moving about our apartment and told her to use her walker ALWAYS. She listened, and it has saved her from taking some tumbles. (I shared that with my mom’s permission and though this isn’t…Continue reading Fall prevention deception
I sat up straight in bed recently with Franklin Delano Roosevelt on my mind. Specifically, how his hardships with polio shaped him into the leader he became. My hardships are waning and not as dramatic as FDR’s, which left him paralyzed from the waist down, but they’ve left me feeling as if the person I…Continue reading Heeding FDR’s call to become fairly radical
I pass a house on my walks with a “ROB ME!” sign in the front yard often. OK, so there isn’t an actual sign, but newspapers piling up on the walkway as good as advertise that no one’s home. If I didn’t live so far away, I’d offer the house dwellers to collect their papers…Continue reading Low-hanging trust building
I put myself in a bad situation: By waiting too long to face the unknown by taking a new path in my career, life “helped” me into action with a blessing disguised as a health crisis. This pushed me to resign, which thrust me deep into unfamiliar territory. So in the end, I confronted the…Continue reading How neighbors can help us evolve and be prosperous
Village Company 360 wasn’t my first pick for a business name, but the website addresses of names I wanted were taken or cost thousands of bucks. The word “company” fixed those problems, and had the added benefit of communicating that my work is about villages and business. Some find the idea of melding villages—caring communities…Continue reading The power of building boring businesses
The world is a great thing for everybody.There are so many things that are good. My heart melted reading those words from my five-year-old great-niece in a Valentine’s Day card to me, and I can’t say them enough. The world is a great thing for everybody.There are so many things that are good. Rather than…Continue reading Words from a child to help reshape our worlds
There’s a senator who would make me lose it. I threw a magazine across a room once to get his face on the cover out of my sight. Another time, hostile tears filled my eyes when I saw him on TV. Mercifully, I began to break free of this torment when the words of Booker…Continue reading A pre-Inaugration Day message
My dad, in his 70s at the time, saw a poster on the University of Dayton campus when he was an adjunct professor there. It read, “FREE PIZZA FOR SENIORS!” Dad was feeling like he could go for a slice, but it didn’t click until he showed up for one that “seniors” meant people in…Continue reading Why what wealthier folks are paying to age well matters to middle income earners